1 » Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, with his team up six and the clock ticking down, took a three-pointer during a game Tuesday in an effort to eclipse 100 points and earn the fans in attendance a free Big Mac. Though his team was up a comfortable margin when he took the shot, Noah received a stern talking to from head coach Tom Thibodeau and said Wednesday that he regretted the move. “You have to respect the game because you never know what can happen in a game,” he said, according to ESPNChicago.com. “I just got caught up in the moment and I was trying to get the people a Big Mac. They really wanted a Big Mac [judging by how loud the crowd was getting] and I felt like, not only did I take the shot and miss the shot, we didn’t even get the Big Mac. Next time, I won’t take that three-pointer.”

2 » The Florida Gators’ 2013 basketball recruiting class is already filled with talent – two five-stars and top-10 players to be exact – but the Gators may very well add at least one more big piece before all is said and done. UF is very much involved with four of best players left in the class in five-star forward Julius Randle (Plano, TX), five-star F Jabari Parker (Chicago, IL), five-star center Dakari Johnson (Montverde, FL) and four-star C Joel Embiid (Gainesville, FL). In fact, as far as Parker, Johnson and Embiid are concerned, Florida seems to be in a very good spot for each. Parker visited the Gators over the weekend, Johnson reclassified to the 2013 class this week and has Florida in his top five, and Embiid on Wednesday night cut his list to three with UF making the cut.

Embiid is the closest to making a decision and will do so shortly. The Gators being the local team is certainly a bonus as is the fact that Florida has junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin on the roster and is recruiting his brother 2014 PG Mitchell Wilbekin. (Both are also from The Rock School, where Embiid is attending.) UF also has a connection with Parker, who head coach Billy Donovan coached and won a gold medal with over the summer, and Johnson, who is set to play for Monteverde Academy this season, which is where five-star PG commit Kasey Hill (Clermont, FL) is currently attending.

Read the two more BITS (and an extra BIT) in this post…after the break!
3 » Former Gators F Allan Chaney, after suffering through a slew of injuries and being suspended during his freshman year at Florida, chose to transfer in April 2009 and eventually wound up at Virginia Tech. One year later, while practicing in the offseason, Chaney was rushed to the hospital and “diagnosed with viral myrocarditis, a potentially fatal infection of the heart that causes inflammation.” Now 19 months later, Chaney is finally returning to the court and will be doing so for High Point while wearing a wireless defibrillator and a vest to protect his chest. “The doctor said I’d never play again,” Chaney told CBSSports.com this week. “Now look at me. I’m playing. I don’t know how far I can go, but I’m looking to go far.”

4 » Profiled by the Southeastern Conference’s official website in celebration of the 20th anniversary of soccer being a league sport, former Gators striker Abby Wambach spoke at length about her decision to attend UF and how the school was instrumental in her development. “We all know the statistics; very few Division I athletes go on to play in the pros but, in my opinion, the University of Florida really prepared me to be a professional athlete,” Wambach said. “It’s not only the facilities and coaching staff and support that they give you as a student-athlete, but they also really give you every opportunity to succeed on every level. I do feel like the University of Florida trained me in every possible way to play sports as a career.” Read more about Wambach and her memories of playing in the SEC by clicking here.

Extra BIT » The University of Florida on Wednesday released a video online about redshirt sophomore wide receiver A.J. Mobley, a 24-year-old walk-on who joined the Gators football team after serving as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan. He plans to go to law school after finishing his undergraduate degree next December.

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